Easter Bunny Rolls

You got me. The only event necessary for this Easter-themed baked good is to show off my beautiful niece Lucy! I saw the idea on Pinterest, but none of the links associated with the picture had a recipe that coupled like the one from Taste of Home that I tried.

Begin by setting the cup of sour cream and butter aside so that it may heat to room temperature. In a large bowl, stir the active dry yeast into the ½ cup of warm water. Let the yeast take a few minutes to dissolve and begin to foam a bit.

Add the milk, butter, eggs, sugar, syrup, and half of your flour (approximately 3-3 ½ Cups), to the yeast in the bowl. Beat this mixture together with the dough attachment of your mixer, or just by hand. Add enough additional flour to form a soft dough.

Flour a large surface, and maybe put on some play clothes while you’re at it; I find that whenever I have to flour a surface, I never escape without a light dusting myself. Knead the sticky dough for a little under ten minutes, adding sprinkles of flour to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to your surface. It pains me to dirty more dishes while baking, so once the dough is sufficiently kneaded, the recipe states it will feel smooth and elastic, I let it rest for a minute while I wash and prepare the original large bowl. Grease the bowl, and replace the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise and double (which takes about an hour).

Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Punch down the dough and turn it back out onto the floured surface. Shape each roll into little ovals around 1 ½ inch wide and 2 inches long. Continue the ovals for the remainder of the dough.

As you can tell by the photos, I have not yet mastered the shaping, but this batch is vastly improved from the first try. This phase of the bunny rolls is focused on shaping. I positioned the kitchen scissors at around a 30-degree angle in relationship to the first roll. Cut with consistent depth between the two ears toward the smallest oval end.

You will notice that these ears are pointed. Round them out by pinching the dough and stretching a bit. Next, with your thumb and forefinger, pinch the oval dough bunny body just behind the ears. This should help perk up the ears and define the head from the body. After performing this shaping with every roll, poke the skewers in for the eyes. On my previous batch I didn’t re-shape the ears, assuming they would round out with the second rise- they do not. I also attempted to be more detailed with the little bunny face – again, ill advised. I expect my next batch will be better, and in fact these rolls are so cute I can see this being an annual tradition. Cover and allow the dough to rise for another 30 minutes. Depending on how long the dough took to shape, you may notice the rolls double in less time.

Preheat your oven to 350°, give the bunnies another good pinch behind the ears, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they begin to brown. I prefer rolls to be a bit doughy, so I took them out just before fully browning.

After letting the rolls cool, I packed 5 rolls into each cute tin-tie windowed bag. I placed each pretty Floral Baby Easter Label with little Lucy’s sweet face just slightly over the window of each bag. I rolled the tin-tie down and adorned with a simply crossed pale yellow ribbon, and added the final label so everyone knows I made these cute little bunnies! I can’t wait to continue practicing these rolls for every Easter to come. [printfriendly]

Easter Collection:

Zoe is born and bred in Portland, Oregon and recently moved to Orlando, Florida. She studied sociology and philosophy at University of Oregon, and is currently employed at a law firm. Presently, she devotes her time to being lost in the tropical vegetation of her backyard, sun-scorched bike rides, repurposing everything she can think of, quirky cooking, and promoting the creative lifestyle that she loves.

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